NONSTOP (2014 - THRILLER / MYSTERY / ACTION) ***1/2 out of ***** or 7 out of 10
( Tower, we have a problem...)
CAST: Liam Neeson, Julianne Moore, Scoot McNairy, Michelle Dockery, Nate Parker, Corey Stoll, Lupita Nyongo, Anson Mount, Linus Roache, Jason Butler Harner, Quinn McGonagle, Corey Hawkins, Omar Metwally.
DIRECTOR: Jaume Collett-Serra
WARNING: Some SPOILERS and some damn good arguments to take a ship the next time you go international...
IT'S LIKE THIS: Ah, traveling. Is there a more wonderful thing in the world? You get to see new places, meet new people, have grand adventures, and broaden your horizons so that you end up a more worldly, enlightened individual. The flip side of traveling is that you have to endure the actual, um, traveling. As in: crowded airports, endless TSA lines, delayed flights, and passengers sitting next to you who just won't mind their own goddamn business. The last time I flew very recently, I actually I had to say the following to a total stranger sitting next to me, who was intent on prying into my personal affairs and would just not lay off: "My parents raised me to always say 'please' and 'thank you.' But they also taught me not to suffer fools gladly. So hear this: Please leave me the hell alone or I will report you for harassment and have the flight attendant move you - or me - to another seat. Thank you."
Needless to say, it worked. At least I didn't have to get the Air Marshal involved.
Which leads me to our next review, the "killer-on-an-airliner" thriller NONSTOP, which doesn't exactly glamorize the job of being an Air Marshal. Compared to what the hero of this flick goes through and endures, being a fisherman on an Alaskan fishing boat looks downright cozy and inviting, in comparison. Not to mention appetizing: freshly caught King crab vs. crappy (and ridiculously expensive) packaged airline food? Hmmmmmmmmm.... tough choice. But I digress... Anyhow, our protagonist is stoic (and alcoholic) Federal Air Marshal Bill Marks (Liam Neeson). Bill is set to work a NYC-to-London transatlantic jaunt that has your usual mixed bag of passengers and crew.
Our colorful gallery of supporting players includes: (1) Jen Summers (Julianne Moore), hyper-inquisitive businesswoman who has a real jones for window seats - and might even have a bigger jones for our boy Bill; (2) Tom Bowen (Scoot McNairy), laid-back dude on his way to Amsterdam who's got that whole "sexy nerd" thang going; (3) Nancy Hoffman (Michelle Dockery), gorgeous Lead Flight Attendant who looks amazingly like Lady Mary from DOWNTON ABBEY (oh, wait a minute...); (4) Zack White (Nate Parker), techno-geek brutha on his way to London for a big interview; (5) Austin Reilly (Corey Stoll), NYPD dick (in every sense of the word) on his way to England because his "fairy brother is marrying some guy with a British accent" (way to be tolerant, Aus, you'll make a great brother-in-law); (6) Gwen Lloyd (Lupita Nyongo), second-in-command flight attendant (after Lady Mary, er, Nancy) who looks amazingly like that hottie who won Best Supporting Actress this year for 12 YEARS A SLAVE (oh, wait a minute...); (7) Jack Hammond (Anson Mount), second-in-command Air Marshal (after our boy Bill) who is not the kind of Air Marshal I would want on my flight (two words: drug problem); (8) Travis Mitchell (Corey Hawkins), rapper-brutha who has a thing for taking surreptitious pictures of women's tits with his cell phone (so?); (9) Captain McMillan (Linus Roache), cool and confident pilot; (10) Co-Captain Rice (Jason Butler Harner), shy co-pilot who has a serious woody for our hot Lead Flight Attendant Lady Mary, er, Nancy; (11) Dr. Fahim Nasir (Omar Metwally), kindly and resourceful Middle Eastern doctor whom the prejudiced among you will immediately start suspecting to be the bad guy; and last but definitely the smallest: (12) Becca (Quinn McColgan), adorable 8-year old traveling by herself to fulfill the rule that says an "Airline Thriller" is not an "Airline Thriller" unless there's some brat on-board to complicate things.
There's a bunch more passengers and crew, but the above dozen (plus our boy Bill) are the ones to keep your eyes on. The fun starts when Bill gets a text on his phone that goes something like: "'Sup, dude?" You're probably thinking that's no big deal since most of us get texts like that all the time from our buddies, right? Well, let's just say that the network that Bill's phone is on is a secure Federal grid that shouldn't be accessible to anyone but the Air Marshals. And since it isn't Jack Hammond, who else on the flight is sending taunting messages to our boy Bill? In other words... pop quiz, hot shots: if a passenger needs help, you call the Air Marshal - but if an Air Marshal needs help, who does he call? The Ghostbusters? Probably not.
Before long, the congenial tone of the text messages turns threatening. As in "'Sup again, dude. By the way, I'm going to start killing one passenger every twenty minutes unless you wire $150 million into the account I just gave you in my last text. Peace out, bro." You know... something like that. And you thought those Alaskan fisherman had problems. Not one to suffer fools (or bad guys) gladly himself, our boy Bill recruits the help of our two hot leading ladies Jen and Nancy in tracking down which passengers are using their cell phones during key moments. Who knew that airline cabins had hidden cameras up the wazoo? And I though SLIVER's scenario was just fiction. I'm going to have to put on a show on my next flight. Par-tay!
Wait, where was I? Oh, that's right: our boy Bill and his two Bond Girls, er, Bill Girls, Jen and Nancy - all trying to catch the bad guy. So... our heroic trio's snooping on the video cameras reveals a laundry list of potential bad guys (and girls) who were using and checking their phones more than usual. Unfortunately, before Bill can shake down these jackasses, Captain McMillan interrupts his sleuthing to tell him that the account number the killer gave Bill is actually in... Bill's name. In effect, Bill just basically gave instructions to transfer the $150 million into his own account. Uh oh...
So... what the actual fuck is going on here? Why is the account actually in Bill's name?. Is Bill being set-up by the real killer/terrorist? Or is Bill doing a "Catherine Trammell from BASIC INSTINCT" routine on everyone? In other words: is he really the bad guy who is trying to pull off an extraordinary con on everyone? Or is someone else really the killer/terrorist? If so, who is it? One of Bill's loyal helpers, Jen or Nancy? Is it Gwen? Tom? Dr. Nasir? Austin? Zack? Captain McMillan? Co-Captain Rice? Travis? Or is it... OMG... is it really... Becca? Is it possible this unaccompanied 8-year old is the real mastermind behind this whole thing?
Wouldn't rule it out. I have seen some crafty 8-year-olds in my time. Never underestimate them. That's what they are counting on, folks...
BUT SERIOUSLY: The "Airline Thriller" is an interesting sub-genre within the Thriller Genre. Just like any other cinematic category, there are strong entries (UNITED 93, DELTA FORCE, DIE HARD 2), interesting-but-ultimately-flawed entries (PASSENGER 57, FLIGHT PLAN), and downright silly ones (SNAKES ON A PLANE, TURBULENCE). Where does NONSTOP place in the pantheon? Happily, the answer is: close to the upper end of the ladder.
NONSTOP isn't going to win any Best Picture awards, but it is a solidly-good thriller that entertains and keeps you guessing until near the end. In some ways, NONSTOP reminds us of Agatha Christie "closed mysteries" like DEATH ON THE NILE, MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS, EVIL UNDER THE SUN, and AND THEN THERE WERE NONE. They are called "closed mysteries" because they unravel in confined locations where a murderer strikes again and again - a murderer who hides among a large number of suspects. In DEATH ON THE NILE, the confined location was a cruise ship. In MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS, it was a train. And in EVIL UNDER THE SUN and AND THEN THERE WERE NONE, it was an isolated island.
In NONSTOP, the location is an airliner over the Atlantic, halfway between New York and London. Director Jaume Collet-Serra does a good job of maintaining a taut atmosphere of growing dread and tension. The script has a lot of misdirection that cleverly throws suspicion on just about everyone in the cast, and while the ultimate resolution of "whodunit" could have been more powerful, it is still a surprise and one that most people won't see coming. We sure didn't. While the script treads close to borderline-ridiculous territory in some parts (especially in the third act), Collet-Serra always manages to do a course correction in the nick of time and return the narrative to the semi-plausible.
By now, Liam Neeson has perfected the role of the "Tough, Stoic Older Leading Man" which he started in TAKEN, followed up in UNKNOWN (also directed by Collet-Serra), and then tweaked in TAKEN 2. What he does differently here, though, is make Bill Marks more vulnerable than the other somewhat-similar leads he's played in the past. This comes in handy in making us care about not only Bill's battle to save the airline and its passengers, but also his own bid for redemption from a past filled with personal tragedy and professional mistakes.
As good as Neeson is, though, NONSTOP belongs not just to him, but also to those around him. Any airline film (thriller or not) is bound to be, by its very confined nature, somewhat of an ensemble - and the men and women who play the passengers and crew of the flight are a solid, vivid bunch filled with interesting faces. Julianne Moore and Michelle Dockery lead the supporting cast, and they are sharp as Jen and Nancy, the two women who become Bill's allies in unraveling the mystery. Moore brings not only classic American no-nonsense attitude to her role, but also a hint of mystery that makes you think Jen just might not be so innocent or trustworthy, after all. Dockery is similarly strong as Nancy, the British lead flight attendant who combines cool composure with unexpected fire and guts. It's great to see Dockery, so famous as Lady Mary in DOWNTON ABBEY, tackle this more contemporary character and succeed. Go, ladies!
Lupita Nyongo, who recently won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar this month for her unforgettable turn in 12 YEARS A SLAVE, is a warm presence as Gwen, Nancy's second-in-command. Corey Stolls, Nate Parker, Omar Metwally and Corey Hawkins are spot-on as the various passengers who may or may not be the bad guys, while Scoot McNairy continues his upward career trajectory from ARGO and MONSTERS as Tom Bowen, the innocent Amsterdam-bound slacker tourist who may be in over his head. It's nice to see the talented McNairy finally getting his Hollywood due. Brit thesps Linus Roache and Jason Butler Harner are their dependable selves as the pilots who get caught in the cross fire. Then there's the sweet and adorable Quinn McGonagle who doesn't get as much to do as little Becca, but is still a welcome presence.
Ultimately, NONSTOP is solid entertainment that successfully combines elements of the Action, Thriller, and Mystery Genres - and will keep you on the edge of your seats for most of its running time. Sometimes, that's all you can ask for in a movie.
